How to brand yourself effectively online
How well you establish your online brand presence is as important as the first impression a customer receives in your shop or when meeting you in person. Many companies are now reliant on their websites and social media to generate customer leads. Your online visibility is the first chance you have to make an impression on potential customers.
Use this online presence to tell your brand story: outline who you are, your goals and company ethos, and how and why you came into existence.
Website
Your online presence will centre around your website. Ensure it is set up and maintained by experts and constantly updated. The content should be written by a professional copywriter to fully engage and interest readers. Navigation around the site should be easy and the readers’ experience should be lively and interesting. The site should also be optimised for mobiles and tablets to take advantage of the increasing use of these devices.
Check your website analytics regularly to see if readers are staying on the page and “sticking” around or leaving as soon as they arrive (known as a high “bounce” rate). If the latter, make changes to the text if necessary or add interesting features such as videos, customer testimonials, and images.
The site should be optimised for search engines and contain a regular blog containing well researched keywords. This strategy will help boost your search engine ranking and a concerted and consistent SEO campaign may see your brand listed on the coveted front page.
Social media
A highly effective way to build your brand online is to engage with people on social media. Once only Facebook and Twitter were available, however social media such as Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat, and Tumblr are now used as excellent platforms for online branding. The key is to engage with your audience, reply quickly to comments and deal with any concerns or complaints they may have, and work to provide a well-rounded and useful news feed (not just selling points).
Online content
Whether it be website content or social media updates, blog posts or newsletters, the aim must always be to produce high quality content for the readers. Jargon should be avoided at all times. Enhancing readers’ experience is one of the key aims of Google and a combination of great content and effective SEO will help boost your brand’s search engine rankings.
Sharing free content with readers through your website and social media is another method to help boost traffic, improve engagement with readers, and set you up as an authority in your specialised field.
In today’s world where technological advances such as smartphones, shopping apps, and social media are all available for the discerning shopper, it is imperative that your brand have a strong and positive online presence. It must be visible, authentic, and the message it sends must be consistent.